Former practicing doctors who’ve been elected to Congress are urging caution about medical advice from President Donald Trump linking autism to the use of Tylenol during pregnancy.
Many of those willing to speak out among the two dozen physicians who double as lawmakers declined to endorse unproven health advice on Tylenol usage that has been panned by other medical professionals as dangerous.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), a gastroenterologist, said Tylenol linked to autism was “not the case” and urged Trump health officials to release data to support their claims.
“I understand and applaud President Trump’s desire to address this issue and to support HHS. HHS should release the new data that it has to support this claim,” Cassidy tweeted. “The preponderance of evidence shows that this is not the case. The concern is that women will be left with no options to manage pain in pregnancy. We must be compassionate to this problem.”
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), an OB-GYN, said evidence that using an acetaminophen painkiller, sold under the brand Tylenol, was “inconclusive.”
“Some research links CHRONIC acetaminophen (Tylenol) use during pregnancy to increased autism risk,” Marshall wrote on social media. “While evidence is inconclusive, for all medications, use the shortest duration and minimal dose necessary. Ask your doctor!”
The Washington Examiner contacted the 24 medical professionals in Congress for comment on Trump’s health advice for pregnant women and babies. Four responded directly, and at least two others commented on social media, with the vast majority declining to respond to whether Tylenol should be avoided.
In a statement provided to the Washington Examiner, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY), an orthopedic surgeon, said he “encourages all patients to speak with their healthcare provider before taking medication.”
Most physicians in Congress had kept quiet as of Tuesday, more than 24 hours after Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. advised pregnant mothers against using Tylenol to mitigate pain and fevers. Trump went a step further than the new administration guidelines to also advocate against grouping childhood vaccinations “based on what I feel,” suggesting they, too, could be linked to autism or other health challenges.
Trump, during a press conference Monday flanked by other top officials like Kennedy and heads of the Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health, and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, revealed new FDA guidelines “strongly recommending that women limit Tylenol use during pregnancy unless medically necessary” because it’s linked to a “very increased risk of autism.” The officials did not unveil any new medical evidence or studies.
“Ideally, you don’t take it at all,” Trump said. “But if you have to — if you can’t tough it out, or if there’s a problem, you’re going to end up doing it.”
Medical experts and organizations condemned what they said was unsettled science and warned of health complications to the mother and fetus from untreated fevers during pregnancy. Trump ultimately went further than the FDA’s official notice to physicians, which stated a link between Tylenol and autism had “not been established and there are contrary studies.”
Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-CA), an emergency physician, criticized Trump’s claims as “careless comments that spread fear and confusion” and “political rhetoric that undermines their health and safety.”
Others in Congress with medical backgrounds took more nuanced positions or simply thanked Trump for addressing an increasingly common diagnosis.
Rep. Bob Onder (R-MO), an allergist, said the Tylenol guidance “rang somewhat true” and that expecting mothers should strive “to take the bare minimum of medicines.”
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“Over my years in practice, pregnant women have been taking more and more medicines. They’d tell me their doctors said it was safe,” Onder said. “But the fact is, we don’t really know. If I were in practice today, I’d emphasize to women to take the bare minimum of medicines.”
Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), an anesthesiologist and chairman of the conservative Freedom Caucus, did not elaborate beyond praising Trump “for prioritizing funding studies to figure out why autism spectrum disorder has increased so much recently.”